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Then shall I also separate myself from the disobedient? But perhaps I speak simply and behave indifferently, not distinguishing the holy from the unholy. Do you not fear God? Shall we not also give an account for every idle word? Our God is a consuming fire, brothers; whom let us fear, whom from this time forward let us serve in holiness, so that, abstaining from all evil even to idle talk, and holding fast to virtue, we may become heirs of eternal life, having fled the threatened punishments for the scornful, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be the glory and the power with the Father and the Holy Spirit now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen. 474 {1To the monks of Photeinoudion}1 The salutation is one of joy to you, brothers, but the reason for writing is most of all one of sorrow, because the good shepherd has left you, the father in the Lord, the guide and luminary, he who for many years shepherded many sheep and left the flock full of nurslings, if indeed it is numbered at one hundred and eighty, the venerable man and partaker of divine grace, the one exceedingly white of hair and even more whitened in heart, the one rich in love and richer in almsgiving, he who was truly adorned with many virtues, lest by enumerating them one by one I be found extending my discourse at length. Oh, oh, how are these things not grievous, and how not mournful, and how is the sight of the flock not one of desolation, as far as concerns the past? But what then? Shall we persist in mourning? Shall we be more gloomily downcast? Shall we be given over to suffering? Certainly not, O brothers; but, knowing that it is a decree of God for all men who have come into being to depart again and to receive a better and sorrowless life, of which Christ our God, the author of life, is the first-fruits, let us be comforted with the comfort of God, let us come to ourselves, let us say: The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away the good teacher, the holy superior; for what man is there who will live and not see death, that we should find the fate of our father strange? Thanks must be given that we were deemed worthy of such a man, and that his life was prolonged until old age and seniority, and that he at least left us not unprotected nor desolate, but also blessed us at his departure and prayed fitting prayers and appointed one from among you to preside over you; whom we exhort to gird his loins as a perfect man and with Christ-imitating humility to hold to the ministry entrusted to him, walking by the rule and in the footsteps of that blessed man according to the word of God's commandment. And likewise we beseech you also, the good brotherhood, to be subject in the Lord to the newly-established superior with like-minded faith and love and to show that God is truly among you and the holy father, being zealous and binding all together in concord and unanimity. Yes, longed-for brothers, so you will be, so be you made firm, even if every beginning does not immediately have ease, but as time goes on it is established as a skillful habit; and do not be like the unstable and unskillful who come from love of rule. And since the matter of the persecution is on a razor's edge, do not, I beg you, betray the faith nor piety, but, if it comes to pass, be by no means led away with the heretics in any way whatsoever; bear it nobly, considering all things of secondary importance, not only monasteries and all things in the monasteries, even if they be exceedingly hard to procure, but indeed also your own bodies, choosing the good exile and being crowned with the blessing for persecution, the most glorious and most wonderful, just as the blessed one also commanded you. But if it is said that he was captured (yes, and alas for the defeat), yet he has been recalled, yet he has been rebuked and has been joined with the pious and is one of our brothers and fathers, inasmuch as he has also been received by our celebrant, the most blessed patriarch. Knowing these things therefore, brothers, be of good courage, keep good order, may you fare well in Christ Jesus our Lord, may he give rest to him also with the righteous and may he make you perfect in all good things, our beloved brothers. 475 {1To Peter of Nicaea}1 Now we find an opportunity to write to the

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ἔπειτα καὶ διαστελοῦμαι ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀπειθοῦντος; ἁπλῶς δὲ λέγω τυχὸν καὶ ἀδιαφόρως φέρομαι, μὴ διαστέλλων τὸν ὅσιον ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀνοσίου. ὑμεῖς θεὸν οὐ φοβεῖσθε; οὐχὶ καὶ περὶ ἀργοῦ ῥήματος δώσομεν λόγον; ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν πῦρ καταναλίσκον, ἀδελφοί· ὃν φοβηθῶμεν, ᾧ ἀπὸ τοῦ δεῦρο δουλεύσωμεν ὁσίως, ἵνα, κακίας ἁπάσης μέχρι καὶ ἀργολογίας ἀπεχόμενοι, ἀρετῆς δὲ ἐχόμενοι, κληρονόμοι γενοίμεθα ζωῆς αἰωνίου, φυγόντες τὰ ἠπειλημένα κολαστήρια τοῖς καταφρονηταῖς, ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ Κυρίῳ ἡμῶν, ᾧ ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος σὺν τῷ πατρὶ καὶ τῷ Ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. ἀμήν. 474 {1Τοῖς μοναχοῖς τοῦ Φωτεινουδίου}1 Χαρᾶς μὲν ἡ προγραφὴ ὑμῖν, ἀδελφοί, λύπης δὲ ὅτι μάλιστα ἡ ἐπὶ τὸ γράφειν ὑπόθεσις, ὅτι ἀπολέλοιπεν ὑμᾶς ὁ ποιμὴν ὁ καλός, ὁ ἐν Κυρίῳ πατήρ, ὁ ὁδηγὸς καὶ φωστήρ, ὁ πολλοῖς ἔτεσι καὶ πολλὰ πρόβατα ποιμάνας καὶ τὴν λείαν ἐάσας πλήρη θρεμμάτων, εἴπερ ἐν διακοσίοις παρὰ εἴκοσιν ἠριθμημένην, ὁ αἰδέσιμος ἀνὴρ καὶ χάριτος θείας μέτοχος, ὁ λευκὸς ἄγαν τὴν τρίχα καὶ ἔτι λελευκασμένος τὴν καρδίαν, ὁ πλούσιος τὴν ἀγάπην καὶ πλουσιώτερος τὴν ἐλεημοσύνην, ὁ πλείοσιν ἀρεταῖς ὡς ἀληθῶς κατακεκοσμημένος, ἵνα μὴ ἓν καθ' ἓν ἀπαριθμούμενος μακρὸν εὑρεθῶ ἀποτείνων λόγον. ὤ, ὤ, πῶς οὐ ταῦτα θλιπτικά, πῶς δὲ οὐκ ὀδυρτικά, πῶς δὲ οὐκ ἐπ' ἐρημίας ἡ θεωρία τῆς ποίμνης ὅσον κατὰ τὰ φθάσαντα; Ἀλλὰ τί ἆρα; ἐπιμείνωμεν τῷ πένθει; κατηφιάσωμεν δυσθυμότερον; ἐναφεθῶμεν τῷ πάθει; οὐ μὲν οὖν, ὦ ἀδελφοί· ἀλλ', εἰδότες ὅτι δόγμα θεοῦ πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις εἰς γένεσιν ἐλθοῦσιν αὖθις ἀναλύειν καὶ τὴν κρείττονα καὶ ἀπήμονα μεταλαμβάνειν ζωήν, ἧς ἀπαρχὴ Χριστὸς ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν, ὁ τῆς ζωῆς ἀρχηγός, παρακληθῶμεν παρακλήσει θεοῦ, εἰς ἑαυτοὺς γενώμεθα, εἴπωμεν· ὁ Κύριος ἔδωκεν, ὁ Κύριος ἀφείλετο τὸν καλὸν διδάσκαλον, τὸν ἱερὸν καθηγεμόνα· τίς γάρ ἐστιν ἄνθρωπος, ὃς ζήσεται καὶ οὐκ ὄψεται θάνατον, ἵνα τοῦ ἡμετέρου πατρὸς ξενοπαθεῖν ἔχωμεν; εὐχαριστέον ὅτι τοιούτου ἠξιώμεθα καὶ ὅτι ἕως γήρους καὶ πρεσβείου ἡ χρονικὴ παράτασις καὶ ὅτι γε ἐγκατέλιπεν οὐκ ἀπροστατεύτους οὐδὲ ἐρήμους, ἀλλὰ καὶ εὐλόγησεν ἐξόδια καὶ ἐπηύξατο ἁρμόδια καὶ ἕνα τῶν σὺν ὑμῖν κατέστησεν ἐφ' ὑμᾶς προστατεύοντα· ὃν παραινοῦμεν ζώσασθαι ὡς τέλειον ἄνδρα τὴν ὀσφῦν καὶ χριστομιμήτῳ ταπεινώσει τῆς ἐμπιστευθείσης αὐτῷ διακονίας ἔχεσθαι, κανόνι καὶ ἴχνει τοῦ μακαρίου ἐκείνου πορευόμενον τῷ κατ' ἐντολὴν θεοῦ λόγῳ. Παρακαλοῦμεν δὲ ὡσαύτως καὶ ὑμᾶς, τὴν καλὴν ἀδελφότητα, ὁμογνώμῳ πίστει τε καὶ ἀγάπῃ τῷ νεοκτίστῳ καθηγεμόνι ὑπείκειν ἐν Κυρίῳ καὶ δεῖξαι ὅτι ὄντως ὁ θεὸς ἐν ὑμῖν ἐστι καὶ ὁ ὅσιος πατήρ, προθυμούμενος καὶ συνδέων πάντας εἰς ὁμόνοιάν τε καὶ σύμπνοιαν. ναί, ἀδελφοὶ ἐπιπόθητοι, οὕτως ἔσεσθε, οὕτω παγιώθητε, κἂν πᾶσα ἀρχὴ οὐκ εὐθὺς εὐμάρειαν ἔχοι, χρόνῳ δὲ προϊοῦσα εἰς ἕξιν ἐπιστημονικὴν καθίσταται· μηδὲ ὁμοιωθῆτε τοῖς ἐκ φιλαρχίας ἀστάτοις καὶ ἀνεπιστήμοσιν. ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἐπὶ ξυροῦ τὸ τοῦ διωγμοῦ πρᾶγμα, μὴ προδῶτε, ὑμῶν δέομαι, τὴν πίστιν μηδὲ τὴν εὐσέβειαν, ἀλλ', εἰ ἥξει μηδαμῶς τοῖς αἱρετικοῖς καθ' οἱονδήποτε τρόπον συνυπαχθῆναι, φέροιτε γενναίως, πάντα δεύτερα ἡγούμενοι, μὴ μόνον μοναστήρια καὶ τὰ ἐν μοναστηρίοις ἅπαντα, κἂν εἶεν ὑπερλίαν ἄπορα, ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ τὰ ἑαυτῶν σώματα, τὴν καλὴν φυγαδείαν ἑλόμενοι καὶ τὸν τοῦ διωγμοῦ μακαρισμὸν στεφανούμενοι, τὸν ὑπερένδοξον καὶ ὑπερθαύμαστον, καθὰ καὶ ἐντέταλται ὑμῖν ὁ μακάριος. εἰ δὲ ὅτι ἑάλω ἐκεῖνος (ναί, καὶ φεῦ τῆς ἥττης), πλὴν ὅτι ἀνακέκληται, πλὴν ὅτι ἐπιτετίμηται καὶ μετὰ τῶν εὐσεβῶν συνῆπται καὶ εἷς ἐστι τῶν ἀδελφῶν καὶ πατέρων ἡμῶν, καθότι καὶ εἰσδέδεκται πρὸς τοῦ ἱεροτελεστοῦ ἡμῶν μακαριωτάτου πατριάρχου. Ταῦτα οὖν εἰδότες, ἀδελφοί, εὐψυχήσατε, εὐτακτήσατε, εὖ πράξοιτε ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ Κυρίῳ ἡμῶν, ὃς κἀκεῖνον ἀναπαύσειε μετὰ δικαίων καὶ ὑμᾶς καταρτίσειεν ἐν πᾶσιν ἀγαθοῖς, ἠγαπημένοι ἡμῶν ἀδελφοί. 475 {1Πέτρῳ Νικαίασ}1 Νῦν εὐοδούμεθα ἐπιστεῖλαι τῇ